I guess the most obvious difference is stylistic. Whereas the artwork in WoW is highly stylized and "cartoonish," LoTRO takes a more realistic approach. WoW uses a lot of pastels and bold colors, whereas LotRO tends to use a more subdued pallet.
In terms of gameplay, LotRO offers a more concentrated player experience. There are fewer races and classes to pick from, and this can be a good, bad, or indifferent thing depending on what you're looking for in a game. I'm not sure how *deep* the classes go yet, but LotRO doesn't have the breadth that WoW has. In terms of class choice, LotRO is constrained by Tolkien's very limited use of outright magic. So there's really only one caster type class in LotRO, and it's probably the single biggest (but necessary) departure from the lore in the game. WoW, on the other hand, has a ton of magic using classes.
Then there's tone. WoW is a game that doesn't take itself seriously. There are pop references scattered throughout the game, silly dance emotes, NPC dialogue peppered with humor, and lots of in-jokes such as the "snakes on a plane" encounter. LoTRO, on the other hand, is a more somber game that (necessarily) takes itself more seriously. The NPC and quest dialogues are designed to impart a feeling of an ancient and deep world constrained by its thousands of years of history. (and keep in mind I'm not trying to sell anyone on either game, I'm just answering the question. :) )
For PvP, LotRO doesn't have it. You can play as a monster against other players, but there is no WoW- or DAoC-style PvP to be had.
And finally there's the player base. LotRO is still in open beta, so it could change I suppose, but my experience in general has been that the player base in LotRO is a more mature, tolerant, and cooperative player base than can be found in WoW. I think people tend to be attracted to LotRO because they want to steep themselves in Tolkein's world, whereas people tend to be attracted to WoW because it's a very well-rounded MMO that caters to multiple play styles.
Re: The LotR Online short-living bubble
I guess the most obvious difference is stylistic. Whereas the artwork in WoW is highly stylized and "cartoonish," LoTRO takes a more realistic approach. WoW uses a lot of pastels and bold colors, whereas LotRO tends to use a more subdued pallet.
In terms of gameplay, LotRO offers a more concentrated player experience. There are fewer races and classes to pick from, and this can be a good, bad, or indifferent thing depending on what you're looking for in a game. I'm not sure how *deep* the classes go yet, but LotRO doesn't have the breadth that WoW has. In terms of class choice, LotRO is constrained by Tolkien's very limited use of outright magic. So there's really only one caster type class in LotRO, and it's probably the single biggest (but necessary) departure from the lore in the game. WoW, on the other hand, has a ton of magic using classes.
Then there's tone. WoW is a game that doesn't take itself seriously. There are pop references scattered throughout the game, silly dance emotes, NPC dialogue peppered with humor, and lots of in-jokes such as the "snakes on a plane" encounter. LoTRO, on the other hand, is a more somber game that (necessarily) takes itself more seriously. The NPC and quest dialogues are designed to impart a feeling of an ancient and deep world constrained by its thousands of years of history. (and keep in mind I'm not trying to sell anyone on either game, I'm just answering the question. :) )
For PvP, LotRO doesn't have it. You can play as a monster against other players, but there is no WoW- or DAoC-style PvP to be had.
And finally there's the player base. LotRO is still in open beta, so it could change I suppose, but my experience in general has been that the player base in LotRO is a more mature, tolerant, and cooperative player base than can be found in WoW. I think people tend to be attracted to LotRO because they want to steep themselves in Tolkein's world, whereas people tend to be attracted to WoW because it's a very well-rounded MMO that caters to multiple play styles.